


heroes

by Dresupi



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Awesome Darcy Lewis, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Darcy Lewis-centric, Dating, F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Holding Hands, Idiots in Love, Jane Foster is a Good Bro, Kissing, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Oral Sex, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Build, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 14:15:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17920373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dresupi/pseuds/Dresupi
Summary: Darcy hates going to the movies alone, so when neither of her friends are available, she lets Natasha set her up with a new movie buddy.  And sure, Bucky's got some issues, but when you're friends, you find a way to work through them.But somewhere along the way, their friendship melds into something much, much more.It maybe shouldn't be a surprise, it feels like it was always going to end up that way.





	heroes

**Author's Note:**

> For alltheselovelywords on tumblr.
> 
> So this was supposed to be a short one shot, and it kind of grew into this. 
> 
> Song is ['Heroes' by David Bowie (1977)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXgkuM2NhYI)
> 
> **_1970s Song Prompts_ **

“Just… take off early and come with me,” Darcy said. Hell, she’d even call it a whine. She was straight-up whining.  _ Begging _ . And neither of her friends were taking the bait.

“Darcy, I would, but I have tons of work I need to finish up here. You  _ know _ the new bridge--” Jane began.

“The new bridge is almost complete again, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, I know, I know,” Darcy groaned, turning to her other friend, the one who was currently spinning on a stool.

Natasha raised one eyebrow as she slowly turned, the stool creaking. She knew damn well what Darcy wanted, but she was going to make her work for it.

“Nat. Pretty please? Come to the movies with me?” Darcy pleaded, poking out her bottom lip and doing the damnedest job of eyelash fluttering that she’d ever accomplished.

Natasha, still spinning on the stool, gave her a sympathetic smile as she shook her head  _ ‘no _ ’.  “I can’t today, Darce. I’ve got an early morning tomorrow. Why don’t you just… I dunno… go  _ by yourself _ ? It’s a movie? It’s dark? If you get there after they dim the lights, you won’t have to make small talk with any other movie-goers.”

If only she  _ could _ do that. Darcy was hella jealous of anyone who could go to the movies alone. Or like… to restaurants or museums or whatever.  It would seriously make Darcy’s introverted life a lot simpler if she didn’t have to find one of the very few people whose company she enjoyed and convince them to hoof it downtown with her on the odd days that she wanted to experience something.

She rolled her eyes and huffed her bangs out of her face, reaching up to straighten her glasses before speaking. “If only, Nat. If only.  But unfortunately, anxiety is a thing. A thing which I have. Or suffer through. Or actually  _ has me _ . And I’m at the mercy of its whims and random regulations. One of which happens to be ‘never go anywhere alone in the city because people will think you’re weird and we can’t have that!’”

Natasha nodded again in sympathy because she knew the ubiquitous non sequitur ‘Just don’t worry’ wouldn’t work with Darcy. 

Jane was still staring at her screen. Not typing, not doing anything else, just staring.  So when she spoke, Darcy jumped a little in surprise. “Why don’t you ask someone else?”

Darcy shrugged. “Like who?”

Jane mirrored Darcy’s shrug alarmingly well for someone who wasn’t even looking at her. Or maybe they had just spent so much time together that they were starting to react similarly. “I don’t know. Clint?”

“He’s got Avengers stuff with me tomorrow,” Natasha said with a wave of her hand. “Or he’d be perfect.”

“I don’t  _ know _ Clint?” Darcy interjected. She and Jane didn’t live on the compound like all the other super-peeps. They drove back home each evening-slash-early morning, and they worked in the laboratory part of the compound, so there wasn’t much overlap unless someone had to come in here for whatever science-y reason.  Hence her semi-close relationships with Bruce and Tony.

Well, she knew how they took their herbal tea and coffee, respectively. That was a semi-close relationship, right?

“Clint’s good people,” Natasha assured her. “I would never send you out with a stinker.”

That was true. Natasha was an incredible judge of character. Nature of the beast, Darcy assumed. And she had every reason in the world to trust Natasha.

“Okay. I trust you. Find me a movie partner and I’ll give them a try,” Darcy said, knowing that it was healthy to give another trusted individual the wheel from time to time. Except she  _ really _ liked having the wheel in her hands.

Nat smiled, a true smile, and not just that thoughtful smirk she had when she was up to something devious.

Darcy wasn’t exactly sure  _ why _ Nat was smiling. There was literally no one here. Not even Bruce.

Not that Darcy would have turned down an evening with Bruce, but she was pretty sure the neurotic professor wasn’t up for a night out. No matter how dark it was in the cinema.

Natasha gazed over Darcy’s head. Not a difficult thing by any manner of measuring, since Darcy was all of five foot two soaking wet, and Natasha was not only taller but on a stool too.

The front door of the lab buzzed as someone walked through it.

“James!” Nat waved, her smile suddenly changing to just a touch more devious. 

_ James? James Barnes? _

Darcy’s eyes went wide and she froze, hearing James’ footsteps behind her. Light on the tiles, but with just enough give to make sure he was heard.

He was a former sniper. No, scratch that. Still a sniper. So those footsteps must be for their benefit. 

Well. Jane wasn’t paying attention. Darcy could probably sneak up on her right now, and she snuck like she had two left feet in jingle bell shoes, so it didn’t matter if he made himself known to someone who definitely wasn’t usually paying attention.  On the other side of the coin, Natasha was facing him. And a super spy as well. 

So those footsteps were probably for  _ Darcy’s _ benefit.

The footsteps slowed behind her and when she dared to turn around it was to look up into the strikingly handsome face that she usually only snuck glances at from behind her laptop.

Good goddamn, he was nice to look at. Chiseled jaw and bright blue eyes. A nervous air with his sleeves rolled up past his forearms. Sure one of them was cybernetic, but it was his, right? Everything about this man was gorgeous.

Seriously. Dude had to know he was eye candy, right?

“Natasha?” he countered, arching one eyebrow in a very practiced sort of way.

“You free tonight?” the superspy asked.

Both eyebrows went up. Those baby blues hadn’t turned Darcy’s way once, so she couldn’t really tell what he was thinking.

“You know I am,” he said with a nervous laugh. “Who’s asking?”

“Darcy,” Natasha said, her grin turning full on devious while Darcy’s face combusted.

She opened her mouth to protest, but no sound came out.  Those icy blue eyes of his snapped towards her, lingering on hers before dipping down to her lips and back up over her head again. 

“She some kinda ventriloquist, then? Cuz I coulda swore you were the one who asked me, Nat.”

Natasha hopped down from the stool and wrapped her arm around Darcy’s shoulder, spinning her completely around. “She’s shy, that’s all. But she’s a great movie date.”

“She’s also standing  _ right here, complete with speech abilities and everything _ ,” Darcy interjected, her cheeks still flaming, but she’d be damned if she was gonna sit there while they talked over her like some kind of child. “I  _ am _ looking for a movie companion, Mr…” she trailed off, unsure what to call him. Mr. Barnes sounded hella formal, but calling him  _ James _ felt strange. And  _ Bucky _ was something reserved for Steve and Steve only.

“Mr…” she paused again before swallowing thickly. “Smarty Pants.”

His eyes crinkled into a smile. “Are you asking  _ me _ ?”

She swallowed. Was she? She didn’t want to think about it too much. She trusted him. Like she did all the other fellas here. He was good people, or he wouldn’t be here. And if they didn’t have a good time, it wasn’t like they were doing much more than watching a movie in the dark. They didn’t have to talk. It was perfect.

“Yes,” she said levelly, raising both eyebrows to ask the question. “If you want, that is. If you don’t, then I’m totally not asking.”

The smile melded into a chuckle, a sound she’d never heard come from him before.  Of course, to be fair, she’d rarely heard more than a muted hello from Mr. James Barnes.

“What movie?” he asked, tilting his head.

“Oh, it’s playing at eight,  _ Only Flowers _ .”

“Never heard of it,” he said. Admitted more like, when he softly shrugged both shoulders, jamming his hands into his pockets in a blatantly boyish moment. Darcy’s heart sank a little, a blush of something akin to embarrassment blooming in her cheeks and starting to spread down her neck as she struggled for some platitude after which that she could shrink out of the lab. 

“But I’d love to go anyway,” he added quickly, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards slightly.

He was teasing her.

Darcy let out a laugh. “Fine, but you’re buying the popcorn, jerk.”

She wasn’t sure what made her say it, but James seemed to appreciate it. “You wanna meet there, then? Quarter till?”

“Yeah,” she said, aware that she was nodding a little too much, but powerless to stop.

“I’ll bring my allowance, so don’t worry about snacks.” He winked and Darcy couldn’t help but laugh again.

 

* * *

 

He was waiting outside the cinema when Darcy arrived, which laid to rest any fears she had about being stood up.

They bought their tickets in relative silence, even though his very presence to her immediate left made her want to say something. Do something. Laugh, even.

But she kept her composure as they got their popcorn and respective sodas. He was holding the popcorn when the employee casually pointed down the right-hand hallway, so Darcy took the lead, feeling him closely following her as the throngs of people bore down on all sides.

It probably should have worried her. The crowds. She didn’t know James well, but she knew enough about him to know a few of his… less adorable quirks. And crowds usually seemed to trigger those.

So she really should have realized...

Because as they were slowly shuffling down the corridor in the direction of theater number fourteen, she heard a pop and soft swear from behind her.

She turned just in time to see James hold out his left hand, currently squeezed tightly around his soda, which was just a cardboard cup, so it hadn’t really stood up to the cybernetic abilities of his arm. There was soda dripping down his arm, a puddle forming on the floor by his foot, the soft  _ clink  _ of ice cubes as they fell, and a look of positive horror on his face.  

She should have realized, but she hadn’t. So now she really needed to make it right.

Darcy gulped and reached out to take the ruined cup from him. “And  _ that _ is why we have two.”

She tossed the dripping cardboard mess into a nearby trashcan and slipped an arm around James’ shoulders, veering him towards the restroom.

Taking the popcorn from his other hand, she nodded towards the door. “Why don’t you go wash up?”

“We can just leave,” he muttered.

“Do  _ you _ want to leave?” she asked.

“ _ I _ can just leave,” he amended.

Darcy shook her head. “Either we both go or we both stay. I don’t care either way.  But you probably should wash the soda off your hand and your jacket no matter what we decide to do.”

He stood there for a long moment, eyes narrowing as his gaze bore down at her.

“You can glare at me all you want when you’re finished,” she said, nodding towards the bathroom again.

He pushed into the bathroom then, leaving her with the popcorn and her lone soda on the bench outside.

He was in there for so long, she thought maybe he’d somehow found a way to escape through the ventilation system or something.

Except he finally pushed the door open, soaked jacket draped over one arm. He was wearing a dark flannel shirt over his jeans and it looked fine without the jacket.

“I wasn’t glaring before,” he corrected her. “Peering, more like.”

It took her a minute to figure out what the hell he was talking about, but once she had, she laughed. “Peering at what?”

He shrugged. “Thought for sure you’d want to leave after that.”

“I don’t want to leave unless you do. Don’t feel like we have to just because that happened, James.”

He blinked when she said that. “Can we even still see the movie?” he asked.

“We’re only like ten minutes late. I bet we just missed the previews.”

He nodded once. “Good. Call me Bucky.”

Darcy’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Oh? Oh… okay. Bucky.”

His face softened a little and he reached out for the popcorn, keeping his cybernetic arm covered by the folded up jacket. “I’ll let you handle that soda.”

She grinned and stuck close to him, walking through the mostly empty halls towards their theater.

They found two seats together, but it was up near the front.

Darcy didn’t care, and Bucky didn’t seem to either.

 

* * *

 

 

Once the following Tuesday came round, Bucky showed back up at the lab, and not even for any real reason other than to see Darcy.

She was kind of surprised because while their impromptu movie night had gone exceedingly well, she didn’t have any reason to expect a return visit. The movie had ended, he’d walked her outside and waited for her to get in her car. He hadn’t accepted her proffered ride back to the compound, so she had to assume he had his own ride somewhere.

But Bucky was here, all the same.

“Hey!” Darcy greeted him brightly, closing her laptop and standing up to meet him where he stood. “You got an appointment with someone here?” She wasn’t the type to assume he was there for her.

“Nah, I’m here for you.”

_ Even _ if he was here for her.

She grinned, looking down at her shoes in a vain attempt to hide the color rising in her cheeks. “Oh, that’s cool too.”

“So I know we didn’t really… talk afterward… but if you’re free… I’d love to go watch another movie with you…” he said. His tone was very confident, but the slight pauses and breaks in his sentence gave away his nerves. “If you want. I mean… if you don’t, I’m definitely not asking.”

“I’d love to,” Darcy said quickly. “I had a lot of fun last week.”

He smiled then, blue eyes twinkling. “Even though you had to share your drink?” he asked.

“To tell you the truth, I can’t finish one of those in one sitting anyway,” she said, waving him off. “It was really fun. I’d love to do it again.”

“Okay… are you free tonight?” he asked.

“Absofruitly,” she responded, immediately wishing she hadn’t said  _ that _ word, since to her knowledge, she’d never uttered any such abomination in her life, but she was  _ thrilled _ that her first time could be in front of a guy she found more than a tiny bit attractive.  _ Eye roll, Darce. Eye roll. _ “Absolutely, even.”

“Good,” he said, nodding once and drumming both hands on the counter in front of him before he backed away. “I’ll meet you there?”

“Or I could drive us?” she offered. “Since we’re both going to the same place and everything…”

“Okay… what time?”

“I finish up here at seven… if you’ll meet me in the garage, I can--”

“I’ll be there…” he paused once more, before waving awkwardly and seeing himself out of the lab.

Darcy watched him leave, a warmth filling her that threatened to overflow into something cliché like a self-hug or a happy danceor something, so she turned and went back to her desk.

“Well, that was fucking adorable,” Natasha mused from behind one of the larger monitors.  Darcy hadn’t even noticed she was here.

She jolted a little, almost upsetting her laptop in the process. “Damn. Eavesdrop, much?”

Natasha snorted derisively. “Darcy. There are no  _ eaves _ in this laboratory.”

“Still…”

“I was here in plain sight,” the other woman argued..”

“Yeah, well. I’d rather we put a bell on you all the same,” Darcy mused. “I’d like to know when you show up…”

“I think he likes you,” Natasha replied.

Darcy chose to ignore that. “Where are we on that bell, Nat?”

 

* * *

 

 

The movie felt like it was over before it even started. But her watch and her backside said differently.

As she and Bucky made their way out to the parking lot, it was raining, which put a little more urgency in their collective step than would have otherwise been there.

“I left my umbrella at home,” he lamented as they moved across the asphalt towards her car.

“Don’t worry about it, mine’s in my backseat. A lot of good it’s doing there,” Darcy laughed as Bucky rushed forward to open her door right after she unlocked it. 

She paused, unsure of what  _ exactly _ would be the best way to thank someone for doing something she didn’t even need doing. 

“You gonna get in?” he teased, gesturing. “Getting soaked standing here.”

She sniffed. “No one asked you to.”

“It’s polite, though.”

It suddenly dawned on her. Of course, he’d think it was polite. That was that 1940s Chivalry™ coming through.

“You know you don’t  _ have _ to do that, right?”

He walked around to the other side, which Darcy had unlocked and pushed open for him. “I know that. Just  _ wanted _ to. Does it make you uncomfortable?”

“No, not at all.”

It made her many things, but uncomfortable wasn’t one of those, surprisingly.  Since it came from Bucky, it kind of felt different than if some random dudebro had done it.

For one, she was pretty sure Bucky didn’t expect anything in return.

Even if she  _ maybe _ wanted to return the favor somehow.

But those thoughts weren’t going to help her drive in this rain.

“So you wanna head back to the compound, then?” she asked. 

“Yeah, sounds good,” he replied, even if he still looked a little antsy for whatever reason.

“I mean, I could probably stand to go somewhere else, but it’s so wet and gross, the only place I wanna go is home. So unless you’d want to catch up on some Great British Bake Off on Netflix…” she trailed off, realizing belatedly that she was asking him back to her house for a Netflix and Chill, basically.

But she hadn’t really meant that at all, she was being sincere! It was just GBBO.

“Well, maybe if you swing back by the compound so I can pick up my car…” he replied. “Just so you don’t have to drive me home in the middle of the night.”

She peered over at him for a long moment.

“You can glare at me all you want, but you’d better look at that road when you start driving,” he teased.

“It’s not a glare, it’s a  _ peer _ ,” she replied.

“Any special reason?”

“Nah,” she shook her head, turning the key in the ignition. “Just surprised is all.”

“That a good thing?”

“A very good thing.”

 

* * *

 

 

After that Tuesday, it all became sort of a routine for them.  Movies at eight, followed by Netflix back at Darcy’s. Dates, but not dates. There was flirting, but no follow through. On either part.

In fact, it wasn’t until the fifth week of much of the same that Bucky’s fingers ever touched hers.

They were watching an action heist movie with a star-studded cast and forgettable dialogue when it happened. Darcy was paying more attention to Bucky than she was the action on screen. That wasn’t unusual, but she really wasn’t into this kind of movie, so her attention was a little more of an eighty-twenty split than the usual sixty-forty. 

On screen, someone had forgotten to bring the getaway car around, though. She knew that much.

She didn’t actually see who or what happened as a result, because it was at that precise moment that Bucky’s fingers brushed gently over the back of her hand. His skin was warm as his hand slipped snugly into hers. He moved so slowly it felt like he was trying to keep her from realizing it was there.

Except Darcy couldn’t  _ not _ pay attention to him. Whenever he was in the room, in the vicinity, her entire body paid attention, even if it was movie night. She was always half aware of James Buchanan Barnes over everything else.

He made her mouth go dry as sandpaper. And up until that fifth week, she was fairly certain he didn’t feel the same way.

But when his calloused fingers caught hers, squeezing once they found their home, she let out a ragged breath. One that gave him pause.

“This okay?” he asked, sounding just as scared as she felt.

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Oh good,” he exhaled. “Thought I was doing it wrong.” 

“No, it feels right,” she replied, squeezing his hand.

And it did. Feel right.

 

* * *

 

 

It was just hand-holding at first. And just at the movies. They stayed a respectable distance apart when he came over after the movie for Netflix. 

Darcy wasn’t sure what to label it. All she knew was, in the dark, when those previews started, his hand was always in hers. And it never moved until the lights came back on and everyone was leaving.

Maybe it was because they both felt safer with the PDA around other people. There was this unspoken tension between them once they arrived at her place that made her feel like a balloon about to pop. A rubber band about to snap. Like she was one finger brush away from wrapping herself around him and not letting go.

It was technically just hand-holding. But figuratively, it wasn’t. It felt like more.. In the light from the cinema screen, Bucky’s thumb brushed over her skin in a way that felt very deliberate. Very… languid and deliberate. 

As deliberate as their relative distance in her apartment.

It was this… really careful dance routine that was the same every Tuesday.

Until it wasn’t.

Of course, it probably shouldn’t have been a surprise that with all their careful control when totally alone, something could still leak out elsewhere.

It was possibly because of all they  _ weren’t _ doing, or perhaps it was because what they  _ were _ doing wasn’t enough. Clasping hands in the darkened theater just wasn’t cutting it anymore.

The dance was too routine. Too fraught with feelings. Overflowing with them, actually.

Whatever  _ it actually _ was, it eked out for all the world to see.

And it was just a damn shame that Natasha was the first one to see it. 

They were all in their usual spots. Darcy was fiddling around on her laptop. Natasha was spinning on the stool, and Jane was hunkered over some new invention that sounded promising, but mostly just smoked and sparked.

It was Tuesday, so Darcy kind of assumed she and Bucky would be heading to the movies after she left the lab. 

Except he showed up near the end of her shift, looking three ticks past sorry and practically wringing his hands, except that wasn’t something Bucky did.  He did look majorly apologetic, though.

“I got a thing to do this evening… don’t think I’ll be able to make it to the movies…”

Disappointment bloomed in her chest, but Darcy nodded all the same. “That’s fine. I mean.  Life happens, right?”

His hand was covering hers before either of them realized, his fingers squeezing. It was comfortable. It felt right.

Comfort and rightness aside, Darcy could tell by the changed energy in the room that their secret was out. If it was indeed a secret. Again, she wasn’t sure what to label it yet.

“I could come by afterward. I’ll probably be finished around ten… unless that’s too late,” he continued.

It wasn’t. He came by much later after the movies were over. And stayed much later too.

Darcy turned her hand over, pressing it palm to palm with his, fingers lacing, she replied. “That’s not too late.”

Her hand melded perfectly against Bucky’s. It was something they’d figured out long before, but it definitely wasn’t something Jane and Natasha knew.

She could hear the smile in his voice as he tightened his grip once more. “I’ll see you at your place, then.”

He lingered there for a moment, before clearing his throat and pulling his hand away.  Darcy watched as he gave a short wave to Natasha and Jane before leaving the lab.

Jane, who had suddenly grown very interested in the comings and goings of Darcy’s lab guests, put down the thing she was tinkering with and stared over at her lab assistant expectantly.

Natasha was no better, her face a mask of indifference, except she looked like she was about to burst into laughter.

“Just say what you want to say,” Darcy sighed.

“He was holding your hand,” Jane exclaimed.

“Yeah, we do that.”

“Do you also make late-night plans to meet?” Natasha asked. “Because that is highly improper, Ms. Lewis.”

“ _ You’re _ highly improper,” Darcy retorted.

“Nice comeback,” Jane muttered under her breath. “We’re just surprised that you guys have become so close.”

“Have we?” Darcy asked, feigning nonchalance. “People hold hands.”

Jane and Natasha both snorted loudly.

“Yeah, but that wasn’t hand-holding. That was hand-sex and I feel like I need a cigarette after witnessing it,” Natasha quipped, fanning herself.

“Hand sex is something  _ way _ different,” Darcy argued. “All we do is hold hands.”

Jane scoffed. “You guys hold hands like you’re some kind of alien race who gets sexual gratification from it. Which only lends itself to my next question…”

Darcy could tell what it was before she even opened her mouth. “No. It’s not like that.”

“How is it not? Your chemistry’s gonna singe your eyebrows off!” Natasha spun herself in the stool again. “I mean, far be it for me to tell you how to have a relationship, but…”

“I don’t know that it’s a relationship,” Darcy interjected, hoping to maybe turn the attention away from hers and Bucky’s enigma. “We haven’t discussed that.”

“Well, do you make plans to hold hands and watch movies with anyone else, or are you two exclusive to each other?” Jane asked, folding her hands beneath her chin and waiting primly for a response.

Darcy didn’t answer, and apparently, that was enough, because both the other women exchanged looks.

“Whatever it is, we’re taking it slow,” she retorted.

“Fair enough,” Natasha conceded. “We’ll leave you alone. But there  _ is _ money riding on this, so if something  _ does  _ happen…”

“I’ll let you know,” Darcy promised, smiling a little because she couldn’t seem to get her mouth to do anything else.  Maybe they weren’t as discreet as they thought. 

The idea didn’t really upset her.

 

* * *

 

 

It was technically after ten when he arrived, but Darcy wasn’t about to call him out on it.

He rang her doorbell a little after ten-fifteen, and she was there, waiting to open it.

Bucky smiled when she greeted him, running his hand through his hair before coming inside. “So, you ready for season four of the Great British Bake Off?” he asked.

“As ready as ever,” she replied, leading the way to the sofa.

He sat down on his usual end and Darcy, without much thought, took a seat right beside him. She panicked a little when she felt his posture stiffen, but it was only for a split second and he relaxed soon after.

They didn’t touch at first, just kind of settled into the sofa to watch. Darcy wasn’t sure about him, but she knew she wasn’t paying a bit of attention to the show. She wouldn’t have known what the week’s theme was if her life depended on it. 

Something with eggs and batter. Or maybe no eggs. Maybe dough?

It didn’t really matter, she was too focused on Bucky. On how his right arm moved up and over the back of the couch, setting lightly around her shoulders. 

Tentatively, she leaned her head over, lightly falling against him. He stiffened once more and she froze, gulping down the fear in her throat as she gathered her wits and straightened. “Sorry.” She started to move, to scoot over, to do anything to fix what she’d screwed up, but his hand was suddenly on hers.

“Don’t be,” he murmured. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry about, doll.”

“I tried to force something when you weren’t ready,” she argued, swallowing again to try to force the lump out of her throat so she wouldn’t burst into embarrassed tears.

“It’s been over a month, Darcy… I should be ready. I am ready.”

“If you’re not, you’re not, that’s--”

“I am, though,” Bucky argued. “I am…” His hand clenched tightly around hers. “I feel like there’s a dam about to burst...whenever I”m alone with you. Like there’s this…  _ thing _ standing between us and if I break it wrong, if I’m too rough about it, it’s wrecked and I don’t wanna wreck this…” His voice sounded thick and he tilted his head against hers, breath coming heavily now. “I don’t wanna wreck  _ you _ …”

“Who says you’d wreck me?” Darcy countered. “Who says you even could? Who says I’m weak?”

“That’s not what I meant. I meant-- you remember. At the movies that first time. I freaked and busted the cup. I made a mess. I--”

“We had two. There was a spare,” she reminded him. “And it was so big, we didn’t even finish it together anyway, and I’ve lost the metaphor, but…” she broke off with a soft chuckle. One that coaxed a similar reaction from him, so she was counting it as a win. “I can handle you breaking the cups. I can handle  _ you,  _ Bucky _.” _

He nodded, pressing his forehead to hers briefly, but still radiating tension to the point where Darcy knew he needed an out. She’d spoken her piece, but it was a big bite, so he might need some time to chew through it. 

“But if you want, we can put a pin in this. Discuss it later. I’m not going anywhere, okay, Big Guy?”

He pulled away from her, lips pressed tightly together as he rose to his feet. “Yeah.  yeah, that’s… I just need to think. I need… to think. I’m sorry.”

“No, that’s fine,” she countered. “That’s fine.”

She wished she hadn’t moved. Wished she’d just left well enough alone and hadn’t let Natasha and Jane get into her head.  This was fragile. Bucky was fragile. It would take time to blossom.

But she was here for the long haul. She definitely could wait. Waiting was important.

She rose too, walked him to the door, raised her hand to wave goodbye and closed it behind him. Darcy pressed her hand to the door, trying to fight back the impulse to open it again. Space was what he needed. Space and time.  She had both in spades. Nothing but.

She was about to raise up on her tiptoes and glance out the keyhole to see if he’d gone when there was a sharp knock on the door.

Darcy pulled it open a crack to see Bucky still standing there, one hand propped on the doorframe, the other pinching the bridge of his nose. “You okay? Buck?”

He dropped his hand and looked up into her eyes. “I want you,” he whispered.

“I want you too,” she replied automatically. “But I’m willing to wait if--”

“I don’t wanna wait,” he huffed, moving forward and wrapping the cybernetic arm around her waist. He hauled her closer, the flesh hand slowly tracing soft patterns against her hip, her belly, along her arm and shoulder until he met her jaw, tilting her head up so he could press his lips to hers.

 

* * *

 

 

Every touch was tentative. 

Soft.

Deliberate.

His breath was hot against her face as his fingers drifted down along her throat, lingering at her collarbone. “Tell me if you don’t like it,” he murmured, lips brushing against hers.

“I’d rather tell you that I do,” she whispered, reaching up to take his hand and tug him further into her apartment. She turned, his arm trailing behind her as they made their way to the bedroom.

They stopped at the end of the bed, his body back to being all tense and stiff. His eyes darted back and forth, and Darcy knew it was only a matter of time before those nerves got the better of him. So she did the only thing she could do. She kissed him. 

She wound her arms around his neck and tugged him down so she could reach him. 

And she kissed him. 

The tension melted out of his shoulders when she did that. His hands clutched at her waist as he practically bent over her, his lips plucking at hers, giving as good as he got. 

His lips chased hers when she ended the kiss, a soft moan escaping as his arms wrapped around her lower back. “You’re really good at that, you know?”

She giggled, “Thank you.” Darcy reached for the buttons on her blouse, but he quickly released her and batted her hands away. 

“Let me do that, please…” he whispered, fingers deftly slipping each button from its hole until her blouse hung loosely around her shoulders and her skin was prickling with the sudden chill in the room.

She slipped it off, nipples tightening against the lacy mesh cups of her bra as the silky fabric slid away.

Darcy reached for Bucky’s shirt, making slower work of the buttons than he did, however.  She gently teased each one open, fingers trailing over his chest as he wrapped an arm around her waist again. “Take it off already,” he teased, leaning down to peck at her lips. Which of course, only served to slow her down.

“You’re in a little bit of a hurry, aren’t you?”

“Wanna touch you,” he confessed, his hand smoothing up over her belly. 

“So touch me. Touch me all you want.”

He cupped her breasts with both hands. The cybernetic one was warm. Buzzing against her skin. Not enough to do more than draw her notice, but still enough. Darcy grinned and reached up to cover his hands with her own. 

“This okay?” he asked, thumbs stroking over her bare skin. 

“Definitely,” she assured him. “Just didn’t expect this one to be warm…” she nodded down to his cybernetic one. 

“I can kind of control that… thought it might be nicer for you if it was warm.”

“Everything about you is nice.”

He blinked, looking down at his hands for a long moment. “No, it’s not.”

She squeezed his hands. “Right now, it is.” 

“All I want is for this to be nice for you…” he breathed, leaning down to press his lips against her forehead.

Darcy reached back to his shirt, where a little bit of unfinished business still remained. As she coaxed the buttons open on his flannel shirt, he coaxed her breasts up and out of their lacy cups, nipples perky and stiff against his fingers as he ghosted them over the tight buds. 

Darcy’s breath came more quickly as she rushed the last three buttons. The cuffs were an afterthought, remembered only because he refused to stop teasing her breasts, so she reached up to grab at his wrists. 

He slipped the shirt off, tugging his white t-shirt over his head as well.  “Now who’s in a hurry?”

Darcy reached around behind her and popped open the clasp on her bra, letting it fall forward and reveal her breasts, naked and free in the cool room.

Bucky’s eyes immediately widened, watching her as she backed up onto the mattress.

He crawled up after her, between her knees, which she spread further to give him room. 

Bucky hesitated, eyes raking up and down her form before he lowered his head and found her lips again.

His tongue slid deftly over her bottom lip, which he sucked into his mouth, teeth scraping ever so slightly as Darcy rocked her hips towards his.

He still had his jeans on, but she could feel the hard length of him straining against the fabric, against her hip.

She wound both arms around his shoulders, fingers tracing the cords of muscle in his back. His skin felt superheated. So warm she had to get closer. As close as she could.

“Beautiful,” he murmured against her lips, laughing a little when she chased him down, sliding her tongue into his mouth to softly stroke against his. 

He pushed back on his hands until all his weight was on his knees and her hands trailed down his torso, fingernails scratching over his belly until she had reached his belt.

“I think you’re the one who’s beautiful…” she muttered, pulling the leather strap to undo it. 

He blushed, pulling away from her just as she got his belt undone, one hand undoing the button and zip of her jeans before he pulled them down over her hips and thighs.

She’d no sooner kicked them off, then he was back, playing with the scalloped lace trim on her panties. Nuzzling against her sex and making her all tense and wiggly. 

“Take ‘em off already…” she teased, surprised when he looked up at her. His gaze was so heated, it was surprising those panties were still intact.

He tugged them down with one finger hooked through the waistband, Darcy’s hips rose to make it easier. 

His cybernetic hand slid down her thigh, the energy buzzing over her skin as he moved it where he liked, which was hooked over his shoulder.

He lowered his head, pressing his lips against her sex before using his tongue to work her open. Every heated flick made her moan. Even the slightest brush was enough to make her beg. Turn her into a puddle of desire and want.

He’d said he wanted it to be nice for her.

Bucky was being so nice. So very fucking nice.

Her hand reached down to tangle in his hair as he licked softly over her clit. He hummed, laving over her with the flat of his tongue until her thighs were quivering. He switched it up, swirling the tiny nub with the tip, his eyes cast upward so he could watch her writhe.

The arm currently on her thigh moved up until he had hoisted her hip off the bed. He sucked her clit between his lips and flicked it softly with his tongue, the soft rumble of his groan reverberating through her entire body.

“Jesus, Bucky…” she whimpered, her entire body going taut when he released her with a soft pop from his lips, only to draw her back in. Over and over again. Suction. Breaking, Suction. 

“Like that?” he murmured against her. “You like that, doll?”

“Yes,” she cried. “Yes, I like it, like  _ you.  _ Feels nice, feels so fucking nice, Buck…” Her hands were both buried in his hair, pulling it like mad to urge him to quicken. But he wasn’t.

He was watching her with glee as his slow pace pulled her to pieces.. The sounds were likely obscene, but Darcy was well past caring about that.

He drew her in. Let her go. Drew her in...

Until her body was zinging with sensation, and then he simply flicked her with the tip of his tongue. Once, twice, and she was gone.

She tried not to, but her thighs tightened around his head, trying like hell to hold him there as she rode out her release. 

He was pressing soft kisses to her sex when she came down, making her shiver with aftershocks as he slowly worked his way up her body. He lingered over her breasts, sucking them hard and leaving them shining and darkened before she could pull him up to her face. 

He tasted like  _ her _ , and he didn’t stop her when she attempted once again to undo his pants.

His cock was hardpressed against the inside of his jeans, and he groaned when she eased them down over his hips.

His underwear was still in the way, but she made quick work of those, pushing them down over his hips in one swift move. He kicked them off as his erection bounced against her hip. 

She had condoms in her side table drawer. Not because she was some kind of sex machine or anything, but just because it was good for a girl to be prepared, right?

She was definitely thinking something to the affirmative, when she reached over for one, handing it to Bucky.

He took it and leaned back, the long length of his bare torso was almost too gorgeous to look at.

Darcy went with him, sitting up and reaching for him, long, thick and likely aching, given the sharp grunt he made when she squeezed him, moving her hand smoothly up and down the shaft.

“Don’t keep doing that if you want this on,” he murmured, his eyes fluttering closed as she worked him in her hand.

“I want to make you feel good, too,” she replied.

“Fuck, Darcy. You do,” he countered. “You make me feel so fucking good…”

She had barely been touching him, so she knew he couldn’t mean literally.  But it was a super nice sentiment all the same.

“I could use my mouth,” she offered. “Show you just how good I can make you feel…”

“If you do that, I won’t last…” he admitted. “I’m so close right now, just being here with you… about two strokes and a twist of your wrist away from embarrassing myself.”

She took the condom from him, tearing the foil and pulling the latex from the sheath. She rolled it up the length of his dick in one swift movement, pushing him back until he was sitting on the bed, legs moving beneath her as she climbed into his lap.

“The point isn’t for you to last, you know,” she teased, reaching down between them to guide him in.

He surged forward, his lips meeting hers while his hands gripped her hips, pulling her closer until he entered her, the breath hissing out from his lips as she stretched around him.

“Fuck… fuck… I’m sorry…” he groaned. His fingers tightened on her hips. “Oh fuck, I wanted this to feel good for you, Darce… I’m so…  _ Fuck… _ ”

She wrapped both legs around his waist, using them to rock her up and down his length. She kissed him. “It does. You feel so good, babe…”

His brow knit tightly as he leaned his forehead against hers. His shoulders stiffened, his whole body seemed to solidify as she moved. Bounced. “Shhh,” she whispered. “Relax. Let it happen, Buck… You made me feel so good, let me do this for you…”

His hips fought to keep up with her movements, but she could tell when he finally let go. He panted out her name as she moved, his hands gripping her waist as she kept going, kept moving, kept sliding up and down his rigid cock until he couldn’t take it anymore, he stopped her, kissed her lips, Kissed her all over.

“Darce…” he exhaled, hands still gripping her and holding her in place. “I… really wanted to drag that out a little more… it’s just been a while since… goddamn, you feel amazing…” He kissed her then, and she allowed her fingertips to graze his spine, to keep him close, right where he was.

She felt his abdomen clench, so she ground down against him. Against his very much not-softening member still inside her.

“You know,” he murmured. “I could probably go again… if I could… you know. Switch out some things…”

Darcy licked her lips and rose off him. “Make the switch. I’m here all night.”

He grinned. “Me too, apparently.”

**Author's Note:**

> Leave me some sugar if you liked it!


End file.
